Today we continue to answer the question: Why are some books in the Bible while others were excluded and how was that decided? The canon of the Old Testament is a much more complicated collection than the New Testament. Unlike the New Testament that was written, collected, and pretty much standardized in the course of 300 […]

Why are some books in the Bible while others were excluded and how was that decided? This is a great question! Today I’m going to address the New Testament canon. Let’s start off with a little bit of context. By the end of the first century or early in the second century, all of the […]

Learn to chant, so that you may experience the sweetness of the work, for those who chant are filled with the Holy Spirit. – St. John Chrysostom The history of the Greek Orthodox Church can be described as a history of prayer through song. Following the ancient Greek philosophers, the Fathers of the Church recognized […]

In the latest episode of the OCF podcast, Media Student Leader Matthew Monos continues his conversation with Fr. Brendan Pelphrey about sharing Orthodoxy with others. Fr. Brendan addresses some of the ways we can answer the question, “What is Orthodoxy?” and gives tips on answering this question for people from different backgrounds. Click here to […]

There are all sorts of circumstances under which Christians have faced persecution and martyrdom. And while we often think first of the martyrs who were slaughtered by the Roman pagans, there are many more martyrs, especially since the time of the fall of the Christian Byzantine Empire, who have suffered because they refused to denounce […]

We’re talking outreach again this week. Now that we have the principles down, what can we say when we get questioned about our faith? Let’s start with the hardest question you’ll probably get. Orthodox? What’s that? In the back of my head, I’m always thinking…”Hmm…where to start?” It will take us all a lifetime of liturgy, […]